Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#41

Post by olefoo » Tue, Apr 06, 2010, 9:20 AM UTC

orangecat wrote: post #29

kijuhygfhjk wrote: post #16

No - because they are expensive. It's like claiming that Mercedes is destroying the hot-rod industry because kids can't get the engine management codes. Macs were never for hackers now iApple isn't - so what?

Macs were never for hackers Sure they are. Macs are full Unix workstations that can also run Office and Photoshop, with a much better UI than Linux. The meme that Apple's computers are deliberately unfriendly to hackers has never been true, until the iPhone and iPad.

Wait a second, a challenge, an obstacle, an opponent.

This is not being unfriendly to hackers.

This is like one of those cat toys with the wand and the feather at the end to a rambunctious kitten. In some respects it's the most hacker friendly device out there right now because of the bragging rights it creates.

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#42

Post by snprbob86 » Tue, Apr 06, 2010, 9:28 AM UTC

omellet wrote: post #18

sferik wrote: post #10

I've always believed the biggest single moment of destruction of future programmers is when Microsoft stopped shipping BASIC (plus the full source code of the games GORILLA.BAS and NIBBLES.BAS) with DOS/Windows.

I loved Gorillas. But Windows ships with .NET, including a C# and VB.Net compiler. I'd rather have hacked on that than BASIC, nostalgia value notwithstanding.

As far as I know, Windows does not ship with the C# or VB.NET compiler. Both are, however, freely available as part of various downloadable SDKs and their respective Visual Studio Express SKUs.

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#43

Post by bad_user » Tue, Apr 06, 2010, 9:53 AM UTC

ciscoriordan wrote: post #8

As far as operating systems go, MS-DOS did more to encourage my technical knowledge than Windows ever did, and I stopped using DOS around the time Windows 98 came out. But people who are drawn to tinkering probably wind up with better uses for their mental energy when they have easy-to-use operating systems. Pretty much everyone who has an iPad also has access to a machine they can do development on.

> Pretty much everyone who has an iPad also has access to a machine they can do development on.

I didn't until recently, when I had to start working on a project who's purpose is to automatically build iPhone projects.

I can't tell you enough how much it sucks not being able to run "xcodebuild" on top of a Linux machine.

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#44

Post by dagobart » Tue, Apr 06, 2010, 12:12 PM UTC

mkramlich wrote: post #23

Here's my take. When I was a kid, yes I had the Apple II, I had HeathKit radio kits, etc. And yes we now have iPhone, iPad, etc. But folks those all have SDK's. And Linux exists now. Arduino. Mindstorms. Roomba. All kinds of electronic and computer kits for experimentation. Make magazine. Mainstream bookstores now actually have lots of geeky computer magazines and books on the shelves. And the Internet: tons of free…

I read another piece on the iPad yesterday on a prominent German newspaper. I'm in line with you. My opinion yesterday was that the paper could be a little biased or in hope to get their market share back. A masses-loved closed device might be ideal for that.

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#45

Post by jdminhbg » Tue, Apr 06, 2010, 7:16 PM UTC

People who look at the iPad and declare the death of hacking remind me of the people who in the middle of the internet boom saw the AOL-TW merger as the death of independent content.

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#46

Post by nym » Tue, Apr 06, 2010, 10:15 PM UTC

mahmud wrote: post #3

nym wrote: post #2

Yes.

How exactly? care to elaborate?

No.

Re: Is Apple destroying a generation of tech whizzes?

#47

Post by mkramlich » Fri, Apr 09, 2010, 6:11 AM UTC

lazugod wrote: post #31

mkramlich wrote: post #23

Here's my take. When I was a kid, yes I had the Apple II, I had HeathKit radio kits, etc. And yes we now have iPhone, iPad, etc. But folks those all have SDK's. And Linux exists now. Arduino. Mindstorms. Roomba. All kinds of electronic and computer kits for experimentation. Make magazine. Mainstream bookstores now actually have lots of geeky computer magazines and books on the shelves. And the Internet: tons of free…

The iPhone and iPad are not the machines that ship with an SDK, though. That lies entirely on the Mac. And yeah, the Mac is definitely part of the hacker's Golden Age.

Good point. About Mac, agreed, especially software-wise. Hardware-wise, it may not be as hackable as the Apple II was, but it comes with way more powerful and interesting and useful software.